Disc and disc player manufacturers are always searching for new products that enhance the interaction between the user and the disc player. Disc players for playing optical storage and magnetic storage discs are available commercially from companies such as Timast™, Cello™, Harmon Kardon™, Onkyo™, Symphonic™, JVC™, Pioneer™, Sony™, Kenwood™, RCA™, Technics™, AIWA™, Philipps™, Classic™, Oritron™, Grand Prix™, Panasonic™, Toshiba™, Apex™, Samsung™, Zenith™, GPX™, Tozai™, WhiteWestinghouse™, Audiovox™, Curtis™, Admiral™ and others. These generally include CD, DVD, VCD and MP3 players. Generally, only the portable CD players include a viewing window to expose a small portion of the surface of a disc being played. None of the known disc players include a pulsing or flashing light illuminating the upper surface of the CD and forming a discrete image thereon while the disc is being played. The discs generally include some form of indicia disposed on or adjacent the upper surface and some form of information storage medium viewable and readable from the lower surface. Sometimes, the information storage medium forms an iridescent rainbow image when viewed from above or below the surface of the disc. However, when the disc is played in the player, no discreet two- or three-dimensional image is formed on or projected from the upper surface of the disc. The information storage medium generally stores machine readable optical information.
Rotating discs (not optical data storage discs) that form variable light diffraction patterns when viewed under a non-pulsing light are available from companies such as LIGHTRIX HOLOGRAPHIC PRODUCTS (San Leandro, Calif.). These discs, however, do not possess a machine-readable optical information storage medium and they are not adapted to generate a discrete 2- or 3-D image by the persistence of human image when placed in a disc player while the disc player is reading the stored information.
Piracy of music and video content is a significant problem in the entertainment industries. Hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue are lost due to illegal copying of the music and/or video content. A number of anti-piracy systems to prevent or reduce the ease of such illegal copying have been developed. Some of these systems employ code embedded in the storage medium of the disc or a bar code.
Accordingly, the prior art does not disclose disc players and associated optical discs that form one or more two- or three-dimensional moving or still images by the persistence of human vision on, below or above the upper surface of the disc while the disc is being played. The art also fails to disclose such as system having an anti-piracy subsystem included therein or integrated therewith.